Abstract

Vision is a complex function, which is achieved by movements of the eyes to properly foveate targets at any location in 3D space and to continuously refresh neural information in the different visual pathways. The visual system involves five main routes originating in the retinas but varying in their destination within the brain: the occipital cortex, but also the superior colliculus (SC), the pretectum, the supra-chiasmatic nucleus, the nucleus of the optic tract and terminal dorsal, medial and lateral nuclei. Visual pathway architecture obeys systematization in sagittal and transversal planes so that visual information from left/right and upper/lower hemi-retinas, corresponding respectively to right/left and lower/upper visual fields, is processed ipsilaterally and ipsialtitudinally to hemi-retinas in left/right hemispheres and upper/lower fibers. Organic neurovisual deficits may occur at any level of this circuitry from the optic nerve to subcortical and cortical destinations, resulting in low or high-level visual deficits. In this didactic review article, we provide a panorama of the neural bases of eye movements and visual systems, and of related neurovisual deficits. Additionally, we briefly review the different schools of rehabilitation of organic neurovisual deficits, and show that whatever the emphasis is put on action or perception, benefits may be observed at both motor and perceptual levels. Given the extent of its neural bases in the brain, vision in its motor and perceptual aspects is also a useful tool to assess and modulate central nervous system (CNS) in general.

Highlights

  • Born in Canada and USA at the beginning of the 20th century and in France in the 1950s under the impulsion of Henri Hécaen, neuropsychology examines the relationship between cognitive activity and corresponding cerebral condition

  • Neurovisual pathologies extend from low-level to high-level disorders. In this didactic review for both experts and novices, we provide a panorama of the neural bases of vision in its motor and perceptual aspects: eye movements and visual systems, respectively

  • We briefly review the different damages that can occur in the visual systems, before overviewing the different rehabilitation schools of visual neuropsychology, which were developed in Europe and USA since the 1970s

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Summary

INTEGRATIVE NEUROSCIENCE

Educating the blind brain: a panorama of neural bases of vision and of training programs in organic neurovisual deficits. Vision is a complex function, which is achieved by movements of the eyes to properly foveate targets at any location in 3D space and to continuously refresh neural information in the different visual pathways. Organic neurovisual deficits may occur at any level of this circuitry from the optic nerve to subcortical and cortical destinations, resulting in low or high-level visual deficits. In this didactic review article, we provide a panorama of the neural bases of eye movements and visual systems, and of related neurovisual deficits.

INTRODUCTION
Visual neural bases and training programs
Findings
CONCLUSION
Full Text
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